Gas generating apparatus



Filed Nov. 4, 1927 2 Sheets Sheet l Jase/171$.- B ew ei:

1931. J. B. WEAVER GAS GENERATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 4, 1927 Patented Aug. 25, 1931v PATENT fol-F or: a

'Iosnrn 3. or 'romino, onro GAS emmiwrme nrmumzrus Application filed novmbe q ea'z. Serial at. 231,000;

This invention relates to the production of vapor or gaseous el. V

An object of the invention is to provlde an air humidifier in which an adequate volume of humidified air is maintained un-v der approximately constant pressure, for delivery to the gas nerator;

Another object 0 the invention is to rovide a gas generator of novel design in w 'ch 10. air, received under constant pressure from the humidifier, is sprayed upwardly through a head or body of liquid fuel to form a combustible gas in a storage space reserved between the level of the'liquid fuel and the 16 top of the generating chamber, the design of the latter being such that impoverishment of the fuel by the carrying off of the more volatile constituents during early stages of gas generation is compensated for to a certain degree by a lessening of the rapidity with which the liquid fuel level is lowered during the generation and by an increase in the exposed area of the liquid fuel level.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gas producing installation in which the pressure of the gas as delivered to the burner is indicative of the quantity of liquid fuel contained in the gas generator so that by recording such pressure through the medium of a suitable gage, preferabl; located at the point where the gas is use the consumer may be at all times apprised as to the liquid fuel content of the gas generator. i

A still further object of the invention is .to provide automatic control means overning the supply of air to the humidi er and functioning to cut off the air supply when the volume of stored air in the humidifier rises or falls below a predetermined value. Further objects, advantages and chug; acteristic features of the invention will more readily understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which I Figure 1 is a view in side'elevation of a vapor or gaseous fuel producing apparatus constructed in accordance with my inven-.'

tion.

further progress of gas Figure 2-is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the humidifier forming part of such apparatus. 7 Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view ofthe gas generator taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation of the automatic control means for governing the supply of air tothe humidifier. Figure 6 is a view in side elevation of the structure shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is an enlarged view in vertical 5 section of the burner to which the vapor orgzoseous fuel is delivered by the gas gener Figure 8 is a sectional view'taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 1. v 7o Proceeding. now to amore detailed discussion of the drawings, 1 and 2 designate the feed lines and 3 the control switchof an electric current supply circuit through which current is supplied to an electric motor 5. The latter is provided with a pulley 6 connected by belt 7 to the pulley 8 of an air pump 9 which affords a source of air supply for the humidifier hereinafter referred to. The outlet from this pump is connected bygo a pipe 10 to a spray head 11 located in the vessel 12 of the humidifier and preferabl in immediate proximity to the bottom wall 13 of said vessel, the latter being normally filled with water 14 to the level represented 35 by the cock 15. Between the vessel 12 and the pump 9 the pipe 10 is looped upwardly as shown to prevent flooding of the pump. 7

Within the vessel 12 there is mounted a freely reciprocal cylinder 16 rovided with guide rollers 17 engaging the inner wall surface of the vessel. These rollers serve to center and to facilitate vertical movement of the cylinder relative to the vessel 12. The interior of cy1inder 16 is divided, by a diaphragm 18, into an upper space-constituting a water tank 19 and a lower space alfordin an air receiver 20 in which the air delivere by the pipe 10 and passing upwardly through the water 14 is entrapped and stored under ressure between the diaphragm 18 and the evel of the water 14. In order to maintain the humidified air stored within the receiver 20 under the requisite pressure, it is necessary that the c hnder 16 be loaded with reference to the dlilivery capacity of the pump 9 and to this end the diaphragm 18 is provided with a weight 21 supplemented by a liquid load such as water 22 contained wlthin the tank 19. By varying the volume of the liquid load contained in the tank 1.9 1t is possible to re ulate the maximum alr pressure that may e developed in the recelver 20 prior to cutting off of the an supply means by the automatic control mechanism hereinafter referred to.

The vessel 12 is provided with a cover 23 from which depends a tubular guide 24 having its lower end closed by a plug 25 which, as shown to advantage in Figure 5, is centrally apertured to provide a bearing for a reciprocal switch actuating stem 26. The upper end of this stem is connected to and forms part of the operating mechanism of a conventional form of snap switch 26a of the tilting mercury tube type while the lower end of said stem is pivotally connected, as at 27, to one end of the arm 28 carrying a float 29 arranged to be sustained and acted on by the liquid 22 in the tank 19.

In the normal operation of the humidifier the float 29 is sustained in a switch closing position indicated by full lines in Figure 5 but when the volume of air in the receiver 20 is increased beyond the desired value by the action of the pump 9 the resulting upward travel of the cylinder 16 serves, through the medium of the water 22 in the tank 19 and the float 29 to rock the float arm 28 upon the fulcrum 31 thereby pulling the stem 26 downwardly against the resistance of the helical spring 32 so as to snap the mercury tube 30 to a switch opening position whereby the circuit of the motor 5 is opened and the pump 9 rendered inoperative to supply further air to the receiver 20 until the volume of air below the diaphragm 18 is reduced sufliciently to permit the float arm 28 to return to a switch closing position. When, through some abnormal condition of operation, the volume of air in the receiver 20 is depleted to an excessive de gree the resulting downward movement of cylinder 16 will cause the float 29, in. following the descending liquid 22, to rock the float arm 28 on the fulcrum 33 at the plug 25, as indicated by the lowermost dotted lines in Figure 5, thereby pulling downwardly on the stem 26 to open the switch and stop the motor, 5. When the motor has been stopped by this movement of the float to the lowermost position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 5 it cannot be started again except by manual closure of the motor circuit. Hence, once the air supply of the receiver 20 has been cut ofl by depletion of the air within said receiver there is no danger of the air supply being replenished automatically and this is an important safety precaution as such automatic replenishment of the air might,-in the event that the burner is left open, create an explosive or dangerous atmosphere.

In order to provide for delivery of humidified air under constant pressure from the receiver 20 to the gas generator hereinafter referred to, the diaphragm 18 of cylinder 16 is centrally apertured to receive there'- through a vertically extending tube 34 having its upper end closed and its lower end normally immersed in the water 14 sealing the receiver space 20. The interior of the tube 34 is in communication with the interior of receiver 20 through suitable apertures 35 and the air passing into the tube through these apertures is conducted by pipe 36 to a spray head located in the bottom of the gas generator 37. This spray head, designated 38, serves to spray the air upwardly through a head or body of liquid fuel 39 suchas gasolene to form a combustible gas in the reservoir or storage space 40 reserved between the level of the liquid fuel and the top of the gas generator. From the reservoir or storage space 40 the combustible gas is conducted b pipe 41 to a flash back preventing screen tting 42 and from thence y pi e 43 to a valve'housing 44 having a cut-o plug 45 therein. This valve housing is shown to advantage in Figure 7 and it will be noted that it presents a duct 46 connected at one end to the pipe 43 and provided at the other end with an inserted nozzle member having a projecting tapered delivery end or tip 47 longitudinally divided to provide a plurality of spring wings capable of inward and outward flexure to vary the effective area of the discharge opening afforded thereby and controlled by the engagement therewith of a flange 48 carried by an adjustable sleeve 49 threaded onto the portion 50 of the valve housing 45. As this sleeve is turned to shift the same inwardly or outwardly with respect to the valve housing the flange 48 will cause the spring wings of the nozzle to be pressed together or separated dependent upon the direction in which the sleeve is shifted. When the sleeve is shifted outwardly with respect to the valve housing 45 it rides through a yoke or guide 51 to reduce the air admission clearance reserved between this yoke and the inlet end of the burner 53 which is mounted in the range 54 as shown to advantage in Fi ure 1.

t is to be noted that the gas generator 37 ismade of graduall increasing diameter from the top to the bottom and this is an important feature of design in view of .the following considerations. It is well known that liquid fuels, especially from petroleum sources, have portions thereof involving wide ranges of volatility. In the early stages of gas generation the more volatile constituents of the fuel are entrained and carried off by the air with the result that as the gas generation proceeds the fuel becomes more and more impoverished and it is to compensate for this that the special configuration of the gas generator 37, previously referred to, is provided. In the present instance, the configuration of the gas generator is such'as to adapt it for a fuel in which the more highly volatile constituents are construed as of minor proportion with a gradual decrease in the volatility of the residue as the gas generation progresses. With the design of generator herein shown it will be noted that at the beginning or early stages of gas generation, a minimum area of liquid fuel is exposed at the liquid fuel level and as the more volatile.constituents of the fuel are carried off the fuel level lowers to expose a greater surface area with a resulting lessening of the rapidity With which the level of the liquid fuel is lowered during further progress of gas generation. In other words, as the richerhonstituents of thefuel are gradually drawn off the lowering of the liquid level is gradually retarded, due to the shape of the reservoir, so that during the gasification of the charge at the latter end the lowering of the liquid level is clearly reduced in proportion to the amount of liquid gas. This has the effect of continuing for a longer time a greater depth through which the air bubbles. As the humidified air is supplied to the gas generator at a constant pressure it will be apparent that the effective delivery pressure of the combustible formed in the reservoir space 40 of the generator will depend upon the head or depth of liquid fuel through which the air must be sprayed, by the spray head 38. Consequently, as the level of the liquid fuel is lowered and the distance to be travelled by the air from the spray head 38 to the surface of the liquid fuel is correspondently lessened there will be an increase in the fuel gas pressure within the reservoir 40 and as there is a definite relationship between this pressure increase and the depletion of the liquid fuel content of the gas generator as represented by the lowering of the liquid fuel level, it is apparent that such increase of pressure may be recorded by a gage 57 included in the pipe 43 to the burner so that pressure increases indicated at this gage will indicate the extent to which the fuel content of the gas gemarator is depleted. The increase of the fuel gas pressure in the reservoir 40 coincident with the decrease in the degree of vola tility of the fuel in the generator is a compensating factor in causing the lower volatiles of the fuel together with the increased quantity of air from the receiver to be delivered to the burner with the requisite degree of velocity to insure eflicient combustion. As the level of the liquid fuel in the generator is lowered, the gaseous fuel in the reservoir space becomes progressively leaner because of the increased amount of air entrained with the'lower volatile constituents of the fuel. In order to compensate for this leanness of mixture delivered from the reservoir 40 during the later stages of gas generation the volume of air admitted to the receiving end of the burner at the clearance region 52 is reduced by adjusting the sleeve 49 toward the said receiving en of the burner and, at the same time, this adjustment of the sleeve permits the spring wings of the nozzle member 47 to separate in order to afford a larger jet opening for the escape of the gaseous fuel passing therethrough. y

In practice the gas generator 37 will be charged with liquid fuel at the opening 55 and the residue drawn off at the drain valve From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided a simple and practical design of gas producing installation in which the use of check valves and storage tanks as commonly employed is rendered unnecessary and in which the gas generator is supplied with 'an adequatevolume of humidified air under a constant pressure suflicient to insure efficient generation and combustion of the vapor or gaseous fuel produced. The slight pressure fluctuations by which the motor of the air supply pump is cut in and out during normal operation of the installation are not suflicient to effect the constancy of the air pressure delivered by the humidifier to the gas generator.

Having thus fully disclosed what I now conceive to be a preferred embodiment of the principles of my invention it will be understood that various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

Gas generating apparatus comprising an air receiver embodying a float having a liquid load imposed thereon to regulate the pressure and volume of air maintained in' said receiver, means for supplying air under pressure to said receiver including an electric motor and a switch in the motor circuit including a float coacting with said liquid load to open the switch when the volume of air in the receiver is increased or depleted to a predetermined extent.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

JOSEPH B. WEAVER. 

